What is your opinion regarding what is reported from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that he disapproved of rubbing the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave, but did not disapprove of rubbing the pulpit?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Here the questioner says: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah disapproved of rubbing the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave, but he did not disapprove of rubbing the pulpit, and he cited what was transmitted from Imam Ahmad from Ibn 'Umar that he did it. What is the ruling on this? He mentioned it in *al-Jawab al-Bahir*?
The Shaykh : Did he mention the ruling but not the narration from Ibn 'Umar?
The questioner : It appears that he mentioned this statement that this questioner transmitted.
The Shaykh : And what is it? Repeat it.
The questioner : He says: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah disapproved of rubbing the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave, but he did not disapprove of rubbing the pulpit, and he cited what was transmitted from Imam Ahmad from Ibn 'Umar that he did it. What is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh : My answer to this is that I think it was mentioned in my speech at the beginning of this session: that this is prohibited by way of blocking the means to harm (sadd al-dhara'i'), even though we feel a great difference between rubbing his grave (peace and blessings be upon him), because it suggests that the one rubbing it is seeking aid from him and similar meanings that are not permissible to direct to anyone but Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). As for rubbing the pulpit, such a meaning of associating partners with Allah (shirk) does not come to mind, so it is like the other types of seeking blessing (tabarruk) that were mentioned at the beginning of this session.
So I say that all these things are prohibited by way of blocking the means to harm, and because people do not have the precision that would lead them to distinguish between rubbing the grave and rubbing the pulpit.
The questioner : Here the questioner says: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah disapproved of rubbing the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave, but he did not disapprove of rubbing the pulpit, and he cited what was transmitted from Imam Ahmad from Ibn 'Umar that he did it. What is the ruling on this? He mentioned it in *al-Jawab al-Bahir*?
The Shaykh : Did he mention the ruling but not the narration from Ibn 'Umar?
The questioner : It appears that he mentioned this statement that this questioner transmitted.
The Shaykh : And what is it? Repeat it.
The questioner : He says: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah disapproved of rubbing the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave, but he did not disapprove of rubbing the pulpit, and he cited what was transmitted from Imam Ahmad from Ibn 'Umar that he did it. What is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh : My answer to this is that I think it was mentioned in my speech at the beginning of this session: that this is prohibited by way of blocking the means to harm (sadd al-dhara'i'), even though we feel a great difference between rubbing his grave (peace and blessings be upon him), because it suggests that the one rubbing it is seeking aid from him and similar meanings that are not permissible to direct to anyone but Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). As for rubbing the pulpit, such a meaning of associating partners with Allah (shirk) does not come to mind, so it is like the other types of seeking blessing (tabarruk) that were mentioned at the beginning of this session.
So I say that all these things are prohibited by way of blocking the means to harm, and because people do not have the precision that would lead them to distinguish between rubbing the grave and rubbing the pulpit.